Worker on break in Uptown Charlotte buys lottery ticket at 7-Eleven — and wins big
It apparently pays to get up from your desk and take a break from work in Uptown Charlotte.
That’s how Nickolas Neal ended up winning six figures in the North Carolina Education Lottery.
“I was at work and I took a walk there to loosen up my legs,” Neal said in a lottery news release.
That led him to the 7-Eleven on West Trade Street, across from the Johnson & Wales University campus. There, Neal paid $1 for a Carolina Cash 5 ticket and ended up with $100,000, lottery officials said.
“When I checked the ticket my jaw dropped,” he said in the release. “I got my wife to check the ticket and her jaw dropped as well.”
He beat odds of 1 in 962,598 to win the game, which has a “rolling jackpot” that climbs until someone wins.
Neal collected his winnings Aug. 23 and walked out with $71,252 after state and federal withholdings, officials said.
What will he do with the money?
Neal’s 10th wedding anniversary is in December, and he says he and his wife will use the cash to visit St. Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. “We are planning this trip to be the honeymoon we never went on,” he said.
Anything left over will go to pay bills, he says.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Worker on break in Uptown Charlotte buys lottery ticket at 7-Eleven — and wins big."